Process and apparatus for producing bulked plied yarn



March 21, 1967 R. G. STOLL ETAL 3,309,855

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING BULKED PLIED YARN Filed June 9, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet l March 21, 1967 R. G. STOLL ETAL 3,309,855

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCINGBULKED PLIED YARN Filed June 9. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 21, 1967 R. e. STOLL ETAL 3,309,855

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING BULKED PLIED YARN 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 9. 1961 March 21, 1967' s o ETAL- I 3,309,855

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING BULKED PLIED YARN Filed June 9 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent Ofiice 33%,855 Patented Mar. 21, 1967 3,309,855 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FDR PRODUCING BULKED PLEED YARN Rainer G. Stoll and Ralph H. Balch, Charlotte, N.C., assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 9, 1961, Ser. No. 115,979 Claims. (CI. 57-34) This invention relates to plied yarns made of continuous synthetic filaments, and in particular to processes of and apparatus for producing such yarns.

Bulky or voluminous yarn made from one or more continuous synthetic multi-filament strands is well known in the textile art. The initially straight filaments are, for the purpose of being transformed into such a bulky yarn, subjected to the action of a turbulently flowing mass or stream of a gaseous or vaporous fluid under high pressure, or to the action of a mechanical or other type of crimping device, or the like. When such initially straight-filament yarn strands are so treated, the agitated filaments are deformed into intertwined and entangled loops and curls, slubs, crimps, etc. The final yarn has a denier and bulk which are greater than the corresponding values of the source yarns, as well as a certain type of hand or feel. Usually, a voluminous yarn of this type is given a slight final twist immediately after the bulking operation, which twist is just suflicient to keep the bulked filaments from separating but is otherwise not noticeable. Where special effects are desired, two or more yarn ends of diflerent compositions and/ or colors and/or initial deniers may be bulked together so as to form a composite voluminous yarn having the intended combined physical characteristics. In such a case, however, the initial or source yarns lose their identities and can no longer be reseparated from the final yarn into individual strands.

Also known to the art are various types of plied yarns which have been developed to meet textile requirements for which conventionally bulked yarn as aforesaid is not adapted. One type of plied yarn is composed of two or more individual, slightly pretwisted strands which are fed jointly and in side by side relation through a common bulking jet where a high pressure turbulent fluid agitates the filaments making up the respective strands and forms a multiplicity of loops and curls in each filament, with the loops and curse of each strands or source yarn intertwined and entangled in the loops of the other strands or source yarns. The yarns, however, remain in side by said relation and retain their individual identities, remaining adhered to one another only by virtue of the entanglement of the loops and curls.

Another type of plied yarn is produced by twisting a plurality of strands of the straight continuous synthetic filaments about one another, with each strand thus being interspiraled with the other strands. If desired, in this type of plied yarn the strands may be combined with an additional strand which serves the function of a core for the composite yarn.

The textile industry has long felt the need for specialty plied yarns the characteristics of which are combinations of the various properties of conventional bulked yarns and twisted plied yarns. Prior to this invention, however, the production of such yarn having the desired composite characteristics has been beset by a number of disadvantages and drawbacks mainly for the reason that no sufficiently economical and efiicient method of producing such specialty yarns has been developed. Heretofore it has been the practice for fiber producers to furnish only unbulked or bulked yarns in relatively small packages of suitable sizes to their customers, who then have to perform the required plying operations. As a result, it

has always been necessary to wind and unwind the yarns a number of times prior to plying, usually from the relatively small packages shipped by the producers into larger packages required by the customers for the plying operations. This, of course, is highly conductive to the occurrence of breaks which in turn entails the formation of knots in the larger yarn packages. Thus, in the known plied yarns the occurrence of knots has been unavoidable, which has been a source of irritation and waste to textile manufacturers, as well as a source of economic losses to yarn manufacturers.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention to provide processes of and apparatus for texturizing and twist-plying continuous synthetic filament yarn in one and the same operation.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of processes and apparatus as aforesaid wherein the ultimate plied yarn is produced from a plurality of strands of yarn some or all of which are texturized immediately prior to the twisting operation.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide highly efficient yarn texturizing and plying apparatus and methods which are simple and inexpensive in operation and facilitate the formation of large knotless packages of the plied yarn.

More particularly, the objects of the present invention are effectively attained by taking a plurality of multi-filament strands or source yarns from metier bobbins or packages and passing the source yarns individually or in predetermined groups through texturizing Zones and thence to a twisting device where the texturized yarns are plied together and wound onto either cone or parallel tube packages.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention,

the texturizing Zones make use of high pressure air and/ or steam jets for effecting the desired bulking of the source yarns, in conjunction with feed and take-up rolls driven at suitable differential speeds to provide the desired rates of overfeed of the yarns into the jets. Preferred types of jets are those which bulk the yarns by the formation of loops and curls in the filaments or by imparting false twist thereto. Crimping devices may, however, be employed in lieu of bulking jets.

Another aspect of the present invention contemplates a variety of types of texturizing combinations. Thus, the source yarns supplied from the bobbins may be texturized singly, i.e., each yarn may be passed through an individual jet, or the source yarns may be texturized in groups of two or more by passing the corresponding number of ends through respective jets. Moreover, the present invention contemplates mixed texturizing of the source yarns, wherein one or more yarn ends might be crimped, one or more false twisted, one or more air or steam bulked, etc., before the resulting texturized yarns are twisted and plied together. Depending on the desired characteristics of the final plied yarn, one or more selected yarn ends may be fed directly to. the twisting device without being texturized in the same manner as the remaining yarn ends.

The respective continuous filament yarns employed in practicing the present invention may be made of any suitable filament-forming materials. Examples of such materials are organic derivatives of cellulose such as ethers and/ or esters thereof, e.g., ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate, cellulose acetate formate, cellulose acetate propionate, cellulose acetate butyrate, etc., which esters may be ripened so as to modify their solubility characteristics or may be unripened, i.e., containing fewer than about 0.29 free bydroxyl group per anhydroglucose unit, such as cellulose triacetate. While other filament-forming materials such as polyamides, e.g., nylon, linear polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, acrylonitrile polymers and copolymers, olefinic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride-vinyl acetate, polyvinylidene chloride, and the like can be employed, the use of organic acid esters of cellulose, such as cellulose acetate, as the major component of the final plied yarn are preferred. Such esters are initially extruded as a solution into a heated evaporative atmosphere to form the filaments, but the actual production of these filaments at the metier constitutes no part of the present invention and thus will not be more explicitly referred to herein.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the final plied yarn is made from a plurality of yarn ends each composed of a multiplicity of continuous filaments of the same filament-forming material, e.g., cellulose acetate. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the plied yarn is composed of a combination of a plurality of filament strands made of one type of material with a plurality of filament strands made of another type of material. Merely by way of example, such a combination may consist of a plurality of ends of cellulose acetate filament yarns combined with one or more ends of nylon. In such a case, where only one end of nylon is employed in conjunction with a number of ends of acetate yarn, the nylon may either bypass the texturizing zone or may be passed through the said texturizing zone together with the associated acetate yarns, and may then be twisted together with the latter so as to be either visible or not visible at the surface of the final plied yarn. Where two ends of nylon are used, the twisting may be such that one of them may be visible and the other not, and one or both of them may be untexturized.

The texturizing zone in one embodiment of the invention comprises a single set of bulking jets in which the individual source y-arn ends are subjected to the turbulence of respective streams of air or steam under high pressure. If desired, however, the initially straight-filament source yarns may first be passed through a plurality of air jets in which they are bulked by being whipped about so that a plurality of randomly spaced loops and curls are formed in each of the filaments, and the so-bulked yarns may then be passed through respective vortex venturi steam jets (more specifically described hereinafter) in which the bulked yarns are additionally false twisted, with the false twist being set in each yarn by the plasticizing action of the steam. Each texturized yarn, regardless of whether it is composed of one strand or of a plurality of strands, thus has an effective sine wave crimp superimposed onto its loopy structure.

The twisting device in which the texturized yarn ends are plied together may be of any suit-able construction and per se constitutes no part of the present invention. Merely by way of example, such a twisting device may be a two for one twister of large capacity of the type manufactured and marketed by the Warner & Swasey Company under the trademark Whirlwind.

The foregoing and other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a yarn texturizing and plying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevational view of somewhat modified texturizing and plying apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevational view of still another modified texturizing and plying apparatus according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4.

Referring now in particular to FIGSv l and 2, it will be seen that in the yarn-treating apparatus according to this embodiment of the present invention there is provided a yarn guide 11 of any suitable construction. In the schematic form illustrated (see FIG. 2), the guide 11 is an elongated bar or plate provided with a plurality of apertures 11a to 11 for reasons to be more fully explained hereinafter. The yarn guide 11 is arranged in front of three pairs of rolls 12, 13 and 14 adapted to feed respective source yarns to a group of texturizing jets 15, 16 and 17. The lower ones of the pairs of rolls 12, 13 and 14 are mounted on a common shaft 18 which is journaled at its opposite ends in bearings 19 and 20 and carries a sprocket Wheel or like member 21 by means of which it may be connected to any suitable variable-speed driving mechanism (not shown). The upper ones of the rolls 12, 13 and 14 are preferably idler rolls individually pivotally supported, in a manner not explicitly illustrated, above and biased against the associated lower rolls, for example by means of springs or under the gravitational force of their own or externally applied Weights.

The jets 15, 16 and 17 are preferably of the vortex venturi type disclosed in copending patent application Ser. No. 812,718 of Smith et al., filed May 12, 1959, now abandoned. Fundamentally, such a jet is provided with a yarn passageway extending therethrough and defined by a pair of cooperating nozzle and funnel-like elements defining a venturi throat, and with a steam inlet passageway which is oriented essentially perpendicularly to the yarn passageway and enters the venturi throat-surrounding plenum chamber eccentrically of the latter, i.e., offset from the axis of the yarn passageway. The incoming steam thus eddies or flows vortically in the chamber and, upon entering the venturi throat, is adapted to false-twist any yarn passing therethrough about its own axis, which false twist is set in the yarn by virtue of the plasticizing action of the steam and (imparts to the yarn leaving the jet a permanent sine wave crimp. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the jets 15, 16 and 17 are supplied with steam through a plurality of short pipes 22, 23 and 24 which communicate with a main steam duct or manifold 25 to which steam is supplied from any suitable source (not shown) under a pressure ranging from about 20 to 100 p.s.i.g.

Alternatively, as hereinbefore indicated, the bulking fluid fed to the jets 15, 16 and 17 may be air under a pressure ranging from about 20 to 100 p.s.i.g. In such a case, of course, the jets are not of the vortex venturi type but are of the type disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,942,402 issued June 28, 1960, to C. W. Palm. A jet of this construction is generally provided with a central plenum or bulking chamber through which a yarn strand or strands may be fed in one direction, while the pressurized air is admitted into the chamber at an angle to the direction of yarn movement, whereby the filaments of each strand are violently agitated and whipped about into a multi-' plicity of randomly sized and spaced loops and curls en tangled and intertwined with one another.

Following the jets 15, 16 and 17 there are provided three sets or pairs of rolls .26, 27 and 28 the upper ones of which are idly and rockably mounted like the upper rolls 14 15 and 16, while the lower ones of the pairs of rolls 26 to 28 are mounted on a common shaft 29 journaled at its opposite ends in bearings 30 and 31 and operatively connected through a sprocket wheel 32 or like member to a suitable driving and speed-varying mechanism (not shown). The pairs of rolls 26, 27 and 28 thus constitue, with respect to the jets 15, -16 and 17, the delivery or take-up rolls, and accordingly they are driven at a somewhat lower speed than the rolls 12, 13 and 14 in order to provide the desired amount of overfeed of the source yarns into the jets.

Behind the rolls 26 to 2 8 is arranged a yarn guide 33 which, like the guide 11, may be simply an elongated bar provided with a plurality of apertures 33a, 33b and 330.

The guide 33 is positioned in front of the inlet trumpet 34a of a yarn twister or plying device 34. As hereinbefore stated, such a twister may be of any suitable construction which is well known to the art, for example a large capacity two for one twister, and thus need not be expressly described or illustrated herein, it being deemed sufiicient to state that in addition to the actual twisting mechanism (not shown) the twister 34 is provided with a pair of feed rolls or capstans 35 which may be geared to and positively driven by the main drive of the twister, with a spindle 36 for supporting a yarn package or takeup spool 36a, and a yarn traversing guide 3617. The actual operating conditions of the twister 34, for example the speed at which the rolls 35 are rotated, will depend on such factors as the compositions of the particular types of yarns being processed, on their strength and elongation properties, on the tensions required to be applied to the texturized yarns, and on the twist denier and other characteristics of the final composite plied yarn. Ordinarily, the rolls 35 will be driven at a speed slightly higher than that of the rolls 26 to 28 so as to provide a drawdown ratio greater than unity and ranging preferably from about 1.01 to 1.5.

In order to ensure that the respective sets of rolls 12 to 14 and 26 to 28 and the rolls 35 are all driven at properly coordinated speeds, the present invention contemplates the use of the motor (not shown) of the twisting device 34 as the main drive for the entire system. For example, the said motor may drive, in addition to the twisting capstans 35 of the device 34, a take-off shaft (not shown) from which the sprockets or gears 21 and 32 may be driven through the intermediary of suitable transmissions and speed-varying mechanisms (not shown), while at the same time power may be taken from the said shaft for the Wind-up mechanism for the finished plied yarn. In this manner, constant relative speeds of overfeed, drawdown, twisting and winding or take-up may be maintained, whereby the apparatus is rendered capable of yielding a plied yarn with a high degree of uniformity of its physical characteristics.

The operation of the apparatus 10 according to this embodiment of the invention in the production of a plied yarn from a plurality of separate yarn ends is as follows:

Referring again to FIG. 2, it will be seen that there are rotatably supported on a creel 37 or like structure six spools or packages 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 of continuous filament synthetic yarns. It is to be understood, of course, that different numbers of yarn packages may be provided. The respective yarn ends a, b, c, d, e and are led from the respective packages 38 to 43 through the corresponding apertures 11a to 11f of the guide 11 and thence in pairs a-b, c-d and ef to and between the first set of pairs of rolls 12, 13 and 14. The latter feed the respective pairs of yarn ends at a linear speed of about 20 to 200 yards per minute into the associated texturizing jets 15, 16 and 17 where the pairs of yarn ends are subjected to the turbulence of high pressure steam or air as hereinbefore stated.

Inasmuch as the initial yarn ends a to f as taken from their packages 38 to 43 are only slightly twisted, for example to the extent of about 0.5 to 1.0 turn per inch which is just suflicient to hold the respective bundles of filaments loosely together, the filaments of the individual pairs of strands a and b, c and d, and e andf when passing through the jets to 17 are considerably agitated and intermingled with one another in such a manner that each of the respective pairs of yarns ends or strands actually becomes one indivisible strand. Where vortex venturi jets with steam as the bulking fluid are used, the vertical flow of the steam within the jets causes each of these pairs of yarn strands to be subjected to a false twist which becomes set therein by virtue of the plasticizing action of the steam. The initial pairs of six yarn ends or strands a-b, c-d and e-f thus leave the jets as three unitary yarn strands h, i and under the pulling force of the second set of rolls 26, 27 and 28 which are driven at a linear speed between about 15 and yards per minute. The yarns h, i and i have a permanent sine wave crimp of about 4 to 20 crimps per inch. The extent to which the yarns h, i and j are crimped or texturized and the extent to which the bulk of these yarns and the denier thereof exceeds the sums of the respective bulk and denier values of the starting pairs of yarn strands a-b, cd and e-f is, of course, determined by the rate of overfeed of the yarns into the jets, i.e., the ratio of the driving speed of the rolls 12 to 14 to the driving speed of the rolls 26 to 28. For optimum results, the overfeed ratio should range from about 5 to 50% and preferably should lie in the range of 20 to 40%.

Where air or steam under pressure and flowing turbulently but not vortically is employed as the bulking fluid, of course, i.e., if the jets 15 to 17 are air jets and not vortex venturi jets, the yarns h, i and j are not sine wave crimped but are bulky due to the deformation of the various filaments of the strands a to 1 into great numbers of entangled and intertwined loops and curls. Many of the filaments of each strand of source yarn are also blown into the respective paired strand and between the filaments of the latter so that the identities of the strands a to f are not preserved.

From the rolls 2% to 28, the texturized yarns h, i and j pass through the apertures 33a, 33b and 33c of the yarn guide 33 and are directed to the inlet trumpet 34a of the twister 34. The latter is preferably a two for one twister of large capacity, such as that manufactured and sold by the Warner & Swasey Co. under the trademark Whirlwind. This device is characterized not only by the fact that it imparts the desired twist to the texturized yarns h, i and j so as to ply the same into a composite yarn, but also by the fact that immediately after the twist-plying operation it winds the plied yarn onto a suitable package, as shown diagrammatically at 36a. Thus it will be apparent that the apparatus according to the present invention performs, in one continuous operation, the desired texturizing, twisting and plying, and packaging of the yarns, thereby considerably reducing the ultimate cost of the final plied yarn and also eliminating the burden of twist-plying heretofore carried by the yarn consumer.

As heretofore stated, the final plied yarn is wound onto the twister take-up package 36a at a rate accurately synchronized with the rates at which the source yarns are texturized. In accordance with the present invention, the structure of the apparatus and the nature of the process are such that only knotless packages of the plied yarn are produced. To achieve this goal, the apparatus 10 is provided with a number of safety features which are not illustrated in the drawings. At suitable locations, one between the creel 37 and the fed rolls 12, 13 and 14, and the other before the inlet trumpet 34a of the twisting device 34 and the take-up package 36a, there are provided two stop motions of conventional construction for the purposes of detecting, respectively, breaks in the source yarns a to f as the same are drawnoif the supply packages 38 to 43, and breaks in the plied yarn. In addition, a solenoid valve is incorporated in the fluid pressure line leading to the manifold 25 for controlling the flow of bulking fluid to the jets 15 to 17. The stop motions are operatively connected, mechanically or electrically or in any other suitable manner, to the motor of the twister 34 and to the said solenoid valve, so as to stop the twister, and therewith the overfeed rolls 12 to 14 and 26 to 28, and simultaneously to close the valve,

as soon as any break occurs in the source yarns or in the final plied yarn. The stop motion at the twister is provided in view of the fact that the stop motion at the creel would not be able to detect a break in the plied yarn. If, therefore, the sets of rolls 12 to 14 and 26 to 28 were to continue to pull the source yarns from the creel while the twister is idle, this would ultimately cause the yarn ends to become tangled and in all probability wrapped around the rolls 26 to 28 and the shaft 29, which would necessitate the stopping of the entire apparatus for a considerable period of time to free the texturized yarns h, i and j and to rethread them into the twister 34, leading not only to losses of time but also to losses in labor and material. Moreover, if the solenoid valve controlling the flow of bulking fluid to the manifold 25 were not closed as soon as the twister 34 is stopped for any reason whatsoever, the yarn ends a to would be blown apart in the jets 15 to 17 without being bulked, which would again entail a complete rethreading of the yarn ends into the texturizing zone of the apparatus 10.

It will be understood, of course, that the apparatus may he modified somewhat where the production of a plied yarn having different characteristics is desired. Thus, the jets need not all be of the same type, and all of the texturizing devices need not be jets. For example, one or more of the jets may be of the vortex venturi type, while the remaining jet or jets may be of the loop bulking type. Alternatively, the jet 15 may be a false twisting vortex venturi jet, and the jet 16 a loop bulking jet, while the jet 17 may be replaced by a mechanical crimping device. More or less than three texturizing devices may also be employed in conjunction with correspondingly different numbers of feed roll pairs.

Other variations in the characteristics of the plied yarn may be attained by different choices of the combinations of yarn ends and types. Thus, single yarn ends may be fed to each texturizing device, or groups of more than two yarn ends each as shown, and the number of yarn ends fed to the texturizing devices need not be uniform from one device to the next. Likewise, all the yarn ends may be made of the same material, e.g., cellulose acetate, or they may differ, some being cellulose actate, some nylon, etc.

A particularly distinct type of plied yarn may be produced by employing a third set of rolls (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) for the purpose of feeding into one or more of the texturizing devices 15 to 17, which in this case are air jets employing non-vortically flowing air under a pressure of 60 p.s.i.g. as the bulking fluid, one or more ends of nylon while the yarns a to f are all cellulose actate, each yarn end being colored as desired. The aforesaid third set of rolls is driven by the main drive of the apparatus, as hereinbefore set forth with respect to the rolls 12 to 14 and 26 to 25, but at a speed about 1 to 2 times higher than the speed of the rolls 12 to 14 so as to effect a much higher overfeed of the nylon than of the actate yarns. Merely by way of example, the overfeed ratio for the nylon may range from to 110% and preferably is about 76%, while that for the actate may range from 5 to 50% and preferably is about 33%. The plied yarns produced by this method with twists ranging from about 2.5 to 3.5 turns per inch were found to have high bulk, an acetate-nylon content proportion ranging from about 80/20 to about 90/10, a denier ranging from about 7300 to about 7600 for the 80/20 yarns and from about 6500 to about 9000 for the 90/10 yarns, and high abrasion resistance. These yarns were found also to be highly suited for use in carpet manufacture, and as tufts or pile in carpets showed highly favorable compressibility and recovery characteristics.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the apparatus there shown is substantially identical with that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except for the fact that there are provided additional sets of feed rolls 44 and 45 adapted to draw one or more yarn ends g from a supply package thereof. The rolls 45 serve to feed the yarn g to the guide 33 positioned at the inlet to the twister 34. In this manner, the yarn g bypasses the texturizing zone altogether, i.e., it is not passed through the jets 15 to 17 by the sets of overfeed rolls 12 to 14 and 26 to 28. The yarn g upon entering the twister 34 is then twisted and plied with the texturized yarns h, i and j to form a composite yarn in which a spiral co region of straight or untexturized yarn alternates with the corresponding regions of texturized yarn. As described, of course, all of the yarns g, h, i and j are visible at the surface of the plied yarn, but the yarn g could be so combined with the texturized yarns h, i and j as to be not visible in the plied yarn. Where desired, one or more ends of the yarn 3 may be fed so as to become core yarn in the final plied yarn, while one or more additional ends of the yarn g may be fed so as to be plied with the yarns h, z' and j and to become surface yarn in the plied yarn.

It is to be understood that although in FIG. 3 the rolls 44 and 4 5 are shown as separated from, i.e., not coplanar with, the overfeed rolls 12 to 14 and 26 to 28, the lower rolls 44 and 45 may actually be mounted on the shafts 18 and 29, respectively, in the same manner as the lower overfeed rolls, the upper rolls 44 and 45 may be pivotally mounted like the upper overfeed rolls, and the package 45 may be mounted on the creel 37 together with the supply packages 33 to 43 for the yarns a to f to be texturized, the only requirement being that the yarn or yarns g bypass the jets or other texturizing devices 15 to 17.

As before, the yams a to g may all be made of the same material, e.g., cellulose acetate or a like organic acid ester of cellulose, and they may be differently or similarly colored so as to ensure that the final plied yarn has a predetermined color scheme. If desired, the yarn g may be made of a dififerent material than the yarns a to f, for example of nylon or another type of synthetic fiber.

The apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 differs from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 only in that between the creel 37 and the set of rolls 12 to 14 there are provided a second set of bulking jets 47, 43 and 49 and an additional set of feed rolls 50, 51 and 52. The lower ones of the rolls 50, 51 and 52 are mounted on a shaft 53 journaled at its opposite ends in bearings 54 and 55 and carrying a sprocket wheel or like gear member 56 by means of which it may be connected through the intermediary of a suitable speed-varying mechanism (not shown) to the main drive of the apparatus in the same manner as hereinbefore described with respect to the shafts 18 and 29. The upper ones of the rolls 50 to 52 are pivotally mounted idler rolls similar to the upper rolls 12 to 14 and 26 to 28. The jets 47 to 49 are adapted to have bulking fluid under pressure admitted thereinto by means of small conduits 57, 58 and 59 which are in communication with a manifold 60.

In this form of the apparatus, the two sets of bulking jets 15 to 17 and 47 to 49 are of different types. For example, the jets 15 to 17 may be of the vortex venturi type referred to hereinabove and adapted to employ steam as the vortically flowing bulking fluid so as to false-twist the yarns passing therethrough and impart a sine wave crimp to such yarns. The jets 47 to 49, on the other hand, are air jets as previously described in which the bulking fluid, for example air or steam flowing in a turbulent but non-vortical manner, agitates the yarn filaments and whips them about violently to deform the same into great numbers of randomly spaced and dimensioned entangled loops and curls.

In operation, therefore, the yarn ends a to f are first fed by the rolls 50 to 52 and L2 to 14 through the air jets 47 to 49, wherein the pairs of yarn ends a-b, c-d and e-f are combined into composite loopy-type bulked yarns m, n and p. To this end, of course, the rolls 50 to 52 must be driven at a higher speed than the rolls 12 to 14, Le, at an overfeed ratio sufiicient to permit the desired degree of bulking of the yarn pairs a-b, cd and e and preferably ranging between about 20 and 40%. The so-bulked yarns m, n and p are then overfed at a ratio between about 1% and 10% into and through the jets 15 to 17 where they are false-twisted by the vortically flowing steam, the plasticizing action of which causes the false twist to be set in the bulked yarns. The resulting yarns q, l and s thus have a sine wave crimp superimposed onto the loopy bulk structure of the yarns. These doubly texturized yarns are then fed into the twister 34 where they are plied together and packaged in the form of a twist-plied yarn having the desired physical characteristics.

It will be apparent that the apparatus of FIGS. 4 and 5 may also be additionally modified in the manner illustrated by FIG. 3, i.e., to enable the doubly texturized yarn ends q, t and s to be plied with one or more extra yarn ends which have not been texturized. By the same token, the apparatus of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be modified along lines similar to that described in connection with P168. 1 and 2, so as to enable one or more extra yarn ends to bypass the jets 47 to 49 and be fed unbulked into the jets 15 to 17 for the purpose of being steam crimped jointly with the previously air bulked yarn ends. Other variations will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

All of the modified forms of the apparatus are, of course, provided with stop motions (not shown) at the desired locations and solenoid valves (not shown) in the bulking fluid supply lines in the same manner as described hereinbefore in connection with the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thus, should a break occur in any of the yarn ends being processed in these modified apparatuses or in the plied yarns emerging from the respective twisters 34, the said apparatuses will come to a halt. The operator then finds it merely necessary to rethread the broken yarn end in the proper manner, whereupon the apparatus may be started up again. There is no need in accordance with the present invention for knotting the broken yarn at the point of rupture. In all of the forms of the apparatus, also, suitable adjustable tension controls may be provided at the creel, as is well known in the art.

The principles of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following examples:

Example I With an apparatus as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, six ends of 950/.8Z/50 cellulose acetate yarn are fed in three groups of two ends each to three air jets at an overfeed ratio of 35%. The bulking fluid employed is air at a pressure of 60 p.s.i.g. The resulting loop bulked yarns are fed at a drawdown ratio of 11% into a large capacity two for one twister Where they are taken up at a speed of 60 yards per minute as a three-ply yarn having a twist of 3.0 S turns per inch and a denier of 7200. When processed into carpet pile A inch high, the pile is found to have a weight of 45.9 ounces per square yard. When subjected to the Walker test, 24 hours cycling at 25 psi, the pile has a compressibility of 31.1%, a normal recovery of 16.0%, and a post-vacuuming recovery of 33.6%.

Example II With an apparatus as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, equipped additionally with a third set of feed rolls, nine ends of yarn in groups of three, each group consisting of two ends of 950/ 82/50 cellulose acetate and one end of 260/ twist/ 17 high tenacity nylon, are fed to three air jets to which air under pressure of 60 -p.s.i.g. is supplied. The arrangement is such that the rolls 12 to 14 feed the acetate yarns into the jets at an overfeed ratio of 36%, while the aforesaid third set of feed rolls feed the nylon yarns into the jets at an overfeed ratio of 77%. The turbulent air in the jets flows non-vortically, and the resulting composite loop bulked yarns are fed at a drawdown ratio of 26% to a two for one twister in which they are formed into a three-ply yarn having a twist of 3.3 S turns per inch. The plied yarn is taken up at a speed of 70 yards per minute, has a denier of 7640, and is found to consist of 84.6% acetate and 15.4% nylon measured on a bone-dry basis. When tufted and used as carpet pile inch high, the pile is found to have a weight of 49.9

10 ounces per square yard. Under the Walker test, the pile has a compressibility of 31.4%, a normal recovery of 16.0%, and a post-vacuuming recovery of 46.4%.

Example 111 With an apparatus as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 six ends of continuous filament yarn are fed in groups of two, with each group consisting of two ends of 950/ .8Z/50 cellulose acetate, into the three air jets 47, 48 and 49. Air under pressure of 60 p.s.i.g. is supplied to these jets. The resulting loop bulked yarns are fed at an overfeed ratio of 6% into the three vortex ventun' jets 15, 16 and 17 to which steam under pressure of 60 p.s.i.g. is supplied. Concurrently, an additional end of unbulked 260/0 twist/ 17 high tenacity nylon is fed at an overfeed ratio of 6% directly into each of the jets 15 to 17 The previously loop bulked acetate yarns and the associated unbulked nylon yarn are jointly false twisted by the steam in the jets 15 to 17 and emerge from the latter as composite yarns each with a sine wave crimp. The so doubly texturized yarns are then fed at a drawdown ratio of 5% into a two for one twister in which they are taken up at a speed of 45 yards per minute as a three-ply yarn having a twist of 3.1 S turns per inch. The plied yarn has a denier of 7880 and is found to consist of 89.4% acetate and 10.6% nylon measured on a bone-dry basis. When tufted as carpet pile inch high, this yarn is found to give a pile weight of 50.8 ounces per square yard. Under the Walker test, the pile has a compressibility of 33.4%, a normal recovery of 17.9%, and a post-vacuuming recovery of 48.5%

The plied yarns produced by means of the process of the present invention, i.e., by being subjected to a texturizing action and a subsequent twist-plying action in one continuous operation, have been disclosed hereinabove as most preferably useful in and suitable for the manufacture of carpeting, but they may as well be employed in manufacturing a variety of other textile products, such as upholstery and furniture coverings, drapes, wearing apparel, etc. Moreover, although these plied yarns are disclosed as preferably being made from continuous filament source yarns, it is also contemplated by the present invention that spun staple fiber yarns may be employed as the source yarns. Plied yarns made from staple fiber will, of course, have a somewhat fuzzy appearance which differs from that of the continuous filament plied yarns.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The process of producing plied yarn, which comprises in one continuous operational sequence feeding a plurality of strands of continuous filament synthetic yarn at a predetermined overfeed ratio ranging from about 5 to 50% through a texturizing zone, subjecting each of said yarn strands while in said texturizing zone to an associated filament-deforming action so as to increase the denier of said yarn strands, said texturizing zone being of the type which does not produce filament breaks, feeding said strands with their continuous filaments so deformed to a plying zone at a predetermined drawdown ratio ranging from about 1 to 50%, and twisting said yarn strands about one another while in said plying zone to form the desired continuous filament plied yarn.

2. The. process of producing plied yarn, which comprises in one continuous operational sequence feeding a plurality of strands of continuous filament synthetic yarn in groups of at least two strands each at a predetermined overfeed ratio ranging from about 5 to 50% through a texturizing zone, subjecting each of said groups of yarn strands while in said texturizing zone to an associated filament-deforming action, whereby said yarn strands of each group are combined into a respective bulky composite strand, feeding and composite strands to a plying zone at a predetermined draw/down ratio ranging from about 1 to 50%, and twisting said composite yarn strands about one another while in said plying Zone to form the desired plied yarn.

3. The process of claim 2, further comprising feeding to said texturizing zone in association with each of said groups of the first-named yarn strands and for combination therewith into said composite yarn strands at least one additional strand of yarn having characteristics differing from those of said first-named yarn strands, the overfeed ratio for each of said additional yarn Strands being greater than that for said first-named yarn strands, and subjecting each of said additional yarn strands to the same filament deforming action as its associated group of said first-named yarn strands.

4. The process of claim 2, further comprising feeding at least one adidtional strand of yarn in untexturized form directly to said plying zone for combination with said composite yarn strands into said plied yarn.

5. The process of producing plied yarn, which comprises in one continuous operational sequence feeding a plurality of strands of continuous filament synthetic yarn in groups of at least two strands each at a predetermined overfeed ratio ranging from about 5 to 50% through a first section of a texturizing zone, subjecting each of said groups of yarn strands while in said first section of said texturizing zone to an associated filamentdeforming action, whereby said yarn strands of each group are combined into a respective bulky composite strand, feeding said composite yarn strands at a predetermined overfeed ratio ranging from about 1 to 10% through a second section of said texturizing, zone, sub jecting each of said composite yarn strands while in said second section of said texturizing zone to an associated strand-deforming action to superimpose a second type of bulkiness onto the first type of bulkiness resulting from said filament-deforming action, feeding said composite yarn strands to a plying zone at a predetermined drawdown ratio ranging from about 1 to 50%, and twisting said composite yarn strands about one another while in said plying zone to form the desired plied yarn.

6. The process of claim 5, wherein at least one of said groups of yarn strands, including steam-plasticizable filaments, is subjected in said first section of said texturizing zone to a turbulently flowing stream of pressurized gaseous fluid to deform the filaments of said one group of yarn strands into a multitude of entangled and intertwined randomly spaced and dimensioned loops and curls, and wherein the resulting one of said composite yarn strands is subjected in said second section of said texturizing zone to a vortically flowing stream of pressurized steam to impart a falst twist to said one composite strand, the plasticizing action of said steam causing the false twist to set on said one composite yarn strand so as to impart to the same a sine wave crimp.

7. Apparatus for producing plied yarn in one continuous operational sequence, comprising means for feeding a plurality of strands of continuous filament synthetic yarn at a predetermined overfeed ratio ranging from about 5 to 5 0% through a texturizing zone, means in said texturizing zone for subjecting each of said yarn strands while passing therethrough to an associated filament-deforming action, said filament-deforming action being of the type which does not produce filament breakage, means for feeding said strands with their continuous filaments so deformed at a drawdown ratio ranging from about 1 to 50% through a plying zone, and means in said plying zone for twisting the texturized yarn strands about one another to form the desired continuous filament plied yarn.

8. Apparatus for producing plied yarn in one continuous operational sequence, comprising means for feeding a plurality of strands of continuous filament synthetic yarn in groups of at least two strands each at a predetermined overfeed ratio ranging from about 5 to 50% through a first section of a texturizing zone, means in said first section of said texturizing Zone for subjecting each of said groups of yarn strands to an associated filament-deforming action, thereby to combine said yarn strands of each group into a respective bulky composite strand, means for feeding said composite yarn strands at a predetermined overfeed ratio ranging from about 1 to 10% through a second section of said texturizing zone, means in said second section of said texturizing zone for subjecting each of said composite yarn strands to an associated strand-deforming action to superimpose a second type of bulkiness onto the first type of bulkiness resulting from said filament-deforming action, means for feeding said composite yarn strands from said texturizing zone to a plying zone at a predetermined drawdown ratio ranging from about 1 to 50%, and means in said plying zone for twisting said composite yarn strands about one another while the same are in said plying zone to form the desired plied yarn.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, said filament-deforming means in said first section of said texturizing zone comprising a plurality of jets each defining an interior chamber through which the respective groups of yarn strands are passed by said first-named feeding means, and means communicating with said jets for supplying to said chambers a gaseous fluid under pressure, said fluid when entering said chambers flowing turbulently within the latter and being effective to agitate the respective bundles of filaments of said groups of yarn strands so as to deform the filaments of each group into a multitude of randomly spaced and dimensioned entangled and intertwined loops and curls, said strand-deforming means in said second section of said texturizing zone comprising a plurality of additional jets each defining in its interior a passageway through which said composite yarn strands are passed by said second-named feeding means, and means communicating with said additional jets for supplying steam under pressure into the same eccentrically of said passageways, said steam thereby flowing vortically in said passageways and imparting a false twist to each of said composite strands, said latter strands comprising steam-plasticizable material and the plasticizing action of said steam being effective to set the false twist in each of said composite strands so as to impart a sine wave crimp to the same.

10. The process of producing plied yarn which comprises in one continuous operation sequence feeding a plurality of strands of continuous filament cellulose acetate yarn in groups of two strands each at a predetermined over feed ratio ranging from about 5 to 50% through a first section of texturizing zone and subjecting said groups in said first section to a turbulently flowing stream of pressurized gaseous fluid to deform the filaments of each group of yarn strands into a multitude of entangled and intertwined randomly spaced and dimensioned loops and curls, whereby said yarn strands of each group are combined into a respective bulky composite strand, feeding each of said composite yarn strands, together with an unbulked continuous filament nylon yarn for each such composite strand, through a second section of said texturizing zone and at a pre-determined overfeed ratio ranging from about 1 to 10%, subjecting each of said composite yarn strands and its associated nylon yarn while in said second section to a vortically flowing stream of pressurized steam to impart thereto a false twist, the plasticizing action of said steam causing the false twist to set said composite yarn strands so as to impart to the same a sine wave crimp, feeding the resulting composite cellulose acetate-nylon yarn strands to a plying zone at a predetermined drawdown ratio ranging from about 1 to 50%, and twisting a plurality of said composite cellulose acetate-nylon yarn strands about one another on a two for one twister in said plying zone to form the desired plied yarn, said process being carried out while maintaining in continuous condition substantially all the filaments of said yarns.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 14 Williams et a1. 57157 X Bottorf 57140 McFarren et a1. 28-72 Garner et a1. 57-l40 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia.

10/1957 Belgium.

Great Britain. Great Britain.

FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

R. MADER, Examiner.

J. PETRAKES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING PLIED YARN, WHICH COMPRISES IN ONE CONTINUOUS OPERATIONAL SEQUENCE FEEDING A PLURALITY OF STRANDS OF CONTINUOUS FILAMENT SYNTHETIC YARN AT A PREDETERMINED OVERFEED RATIO RANGING FROM ABOUT 5 TO 50% THROUGH A TEXTURIZING ZONE, SUBJECTING EACH OF SAID YARN STRANDS WHILE IN SAID TEXTURIZING ZONE TO AN ASSOCIATED FILAMENT-DEFORMING ACTION SO AS TO INCREASE THE DENIER OF SAID YARN STRANDS, SAID TEXTURIZING ZONE BEING OF THE TYPE WHICH DOES NOT PRODUCE FILAMENT BREAKS, FEEDING SAID STRANDS WITH THEIR CONTINUOUS FILAMENTS SO DEFORMED TO A PLYING ZONE AT A PREDETERMINED DRAWDOWN RATIO RANGING FROM ABOUT 1 TO 50%, AND TWISTING SAID YARN STRANDS ABOUT ONE ANOTHER WHILE IN SAID PLYING ZONE TO FORM THE DESIRED CONTINUOUS FILAMENT PLIED YARN.
 7. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PLIED YARN IN ONE CONTINUOUS OPERATIONAL SEQUENCE, COMPRISING MEANS FOR FEEDING A PLURALITY OF STRANDS OF CONTINUOUS FILAMENT SYNTHETIC YARN AT A PREDETERMINED OVERFEED RATIO RANGING FROM ABOUT 5 TO 50% THROUGH A TEXTURIZING ZONE, MEANS IN SAID TEXTURIZING ZONE FOR SUBJECTING EACH OF SAID YARN STRANDS WHILE PASSING THERETHROUGH TO AN ASSOCIATED FILAMENT-DEFORMING ACTION, SAID FILAMENT-DEFORMING ACTION BEING OF THE TYPE WHICH DOES NOT PRODUCE FILAMENT BREAKAGE, MEANS FOR FEEDING SAID STRANDS WITH THEIR CONTINUOUS FILAMENTS SO DEFORMED AT A DRAWDOWN RATIO RANGING FROM ABOUT 1 TO 50% THROUGH A PLYING ZONE, AND MEANS IN SAID PLYING ZONE FOR TWISTING THE TEXTURIZED YARN STRANDS ABOUT ONE ANOTHER TO FORM THE DESIRED CONTINUOUS FILAMENT PLIED YARN. 